Aedrun Brassbrand
"We fought, and we fought and we fought. We dee' everythin' dey asked for and it still bloody came to this. If we dunnae finish wa' dey started, our children will be right back where we started." -Aedrun Brassbrand A former rifleman and veteran of two wars, Aedrun Brassbrand has made a reputation as a belligerent and headstrong dwarf. While his heart is in the right place, he understands that sometimes you have to break a few eggs to get what you want, or often in his case, break a few skulls. Background Life Before Raised in the bosom of Khaz Modan in the frigid lands of Dun Morogh, it would appear that fate had nothing special in store for Aedrun. Dwelling within one of the many small dwarven villages, he was one of the more hearty and friendly folk. Helping out where-ever he could, he balanced a life of long hours in the mines to work on carving out the homes for the next generation of dwarves. Perfectly content to live out his life as it was, he did not dream of distant lands or held ambitions of glory and honour in battle. For a few years did Aedrun hold the ambition to become a blacksmith, and in pursuit of that apprenticed for the local blacksmith. However it became clear that Aedrun was too inclined to deliver sloppy work, cutting corners where he could. In the end it was decided that another would take his place. While this did dampen his spirit for some time, in time he would simply laugh about it after distracting himself by drowning himself in some good hearty labour. As time passed and he started to frequent more villages and towns for deliveries, he eventually met his future wife Lishua. The two making a hot-headed couple as they seemed to almost take joy over butting heads over the most minor of things. All would be well, or so Aedrun thought every day, ignorant of the spectres of war that loomed in the south. Unknown to the tragedy that was to unfold in the coming years, he simply continued to live to his fullest. The Second War The shadows of war loomed over Khaz Modan and yet Aedrun believed that the kingdom would hold strong. The many mountain passes and the like would surely repel the Horde. Nevertheless, he assisted in the war effort in his own way, spending back-breaking days of labour in the mines to claim the iron to feed the forges, preparing the many dwarves who were raising arms to join the war effort and at times even making deliveries. Even if he knew only a small corner of the world, he was still a patriot and it was times like these that dwarves should hold strong and unite against a common enemy. Fate was ever cruel and with it and as the orcish hordes poured into Dun Morogh there was something in Aedrun that would come to change. With none to defend them all they could do was make their way to Ironforge before they too would fall to the orcish raiders. Every burned carcass of a village, every massacre and battlefield across the once pristine lands of Dun Morogh that they passed slowly chiselled away at Aedrun’s heart, until only a cold hard resolve remained to survive. Yet they did not make it, and they stood no chance as wolf riders descended upon them. Killing who resisted and captured those that could not, Aedrun was amongst the latter half, where as his wife was forever lost to him. Not dead, but simply lost as she either escaped, got captured or simply died by the roadside. It was only by coincidence that a few weeks later Aedrun and some others of his village would be rescued by some stragglers of the dwarven forces who happened to pass by the orcish encampment. Together they made it towards Ironforge, one of the last few strongholds that still endured in Khaz Modan. He had lost everything that he held dear, his home beyond his reach, many of his friends dead or lost, nor did he have the faintest clue where his wife was. Yet he was not one to sob, or to give in to despair. When one gets punched in a fight, one does sob, one simply turns back to punch back.Taking up arms, he donned the hood and blunderbuss of a rifleman and joined the first company that would have him. Training when the orcs were not attacking, and fighting when they had to repel another attack on Ironforge. Many of his friends and companions would mention later that Aedrun barely slept during those days, spending the nights maintaining and cleaning his blunderbuss while others slept. He maintained his hearty and supportive spirit, ever prone to smile and laugh, but it no longer reached his eyes. When the tides of war turned and the alliance drove out the Horde from every corner Khaz Modan, Aedrun was amongst the first to volunteer to be amongst those to sally out of Ironforge. It was not bloodthirst or vengeance, but a cold hearted determination to see his duty done. Once Khaz Modan was liberated, Aedrun requested to be released from service. Spending weeks if not months to scour Khaz Modan for something, for someone. But after some time he returned and withdrew his request and remained part of his rifleman company. The Third War When word reached Aedrun that auxiliary dwarven forces were being sent to the north to assist in dealing with the final holdouts of the orcs, Aedrun was amongst the first to volunteer and pull strings to get a place there. For what reason he chose to do so was unclear, but in the end he left with many of his fellow comrades to march north. During battles and attacks, Aedrun was prone to employ guile rather than to win through sheer strength and certainly wasn’t above starting midnight fires in orcish camps to gain the upper hand or intentionally going after their hunters to deprive large orcish encampments of the food to survive. Nevertheless, once the battle was done and all surviving orcs round up, he never antagonized them further and often stepped in against those who did, for all survivors were to be brought to internment camps after all. This paved the way for a position of leadership amongst the rifleman and through it Aedrun continued to distinguish himself with minor victories here and there. Something that would prove to be instrumental in the years to come with the rise of the undead. Seeing the threat they posed to the homelands of their valued allies, Aedrun went above and beyond to try and save as many as he could. Of course, it was not enough and as more of Lordaeron fell to the Scourge, a certain cynicism started to set in. The terrible became mundane, the heart-wrenching became routine, and yet he never stopped being afraid, fearing not the end, but the life of undeath that would come after he fell. Once the losses became too much, supply lines were too expensive to maintain and the Kingdom of Lordaeron seemed to be truly lost and the forces of Khaz Modan were finally pulled back, Aedrun found himself on a crossroad. To put down his arms and to return home or to continue fighting a hopeless war. To give up or to keep going on despite it being meaningless. In the end he and a few others decided to keep fighting, resigning their positions in the dwarvish forces to go rogue, forming a group informally known as the Brassblades in due time. The War Without No longer did Aedrun fight because others told him to, this time he fought because he wanted it. The enemy was still out there, and once the orcs joined hands with the Forsaken into a new Horde his worst fears had been surpassed. So he fought for humanity, for they have saved his home and he would try to save theirs, or at least protect what still endured. They lacked the numbers, resources and means to wage their war and most of Aedrun and his Brassblades could do was launch minor skirmishes and bolster the garrisons of whatever holdings of humanity endured. During those times he did more than just fight, assisting in construction and doing much what he had done in the times before endless war. It brought him a sense of joy that he had not felt for long, even if he would never admit it. As supplies ran low, running his group as riflemen was no longer going to work and thus Aedrun transitioned over to something demanding less supplies, acquiring the fighting style of a brawler in a sense to fight the undead. Improvisation and quick-thinking became ever his forte to survive. When news reached him that the Alliance was considering to open peace talks with the Horde, Aedrun felt betrayed. The morale of his motley group plummeted and many decided to abandon the cause and return to Khaz Modan, for many missed their homeland and families. Aedrun felt differently, history had shown time and time again that the likes of the orcs and their ilk would rise up and wage war without end and perhaps he had long forgotten what other life existed beyond war. So he turned south, to answer a call for valor for a return of glory to the Alliance. Category:Characters Category:Dwarf Category:Rogue Category:Alliance